Communist Gusztavia
The Gusztavian People's Republic, or People's Republic of Gusztavia (Gusztav Nepkoztarsasag) is the official state name of Gusztavia. Gusztavia a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, the Gusztava being an ethnic group closely related to the Magyar. The official language is Hungarian (also known as Magyar), which forms part of the Finno-Ugric family. It is one of the four official languages of Europe that is not of Indo-European origin. Following a Celtic (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (9 BC - c. 4th century) period, the foundation of Gusztavia was laid in the late Ninth Century by the Magyar-Gusztav chieftain Árpádial, whose great grandson Istvánia ascended to the throne with a crown sent from Roma in 1000. The Kingdom of Gusztavia existed with minor interruptions for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centers of the Western world. It was succeeded by the current communist regime. It is currently under the de-facto rule of the Communists, ever since several a military coup d'état (commonly called 'the revolution') was led by Melik Zebestyen, the later General Secretary of the Gusztavian Communist Party. Government The government has since faced growing opposition to harsh economic and political policies. Communism has since been challenged by the people, who demanded freedom, democracy, and an end to political oppression, but they were forced into submission after the implementation of brutal Stalinist-like repression. Zebestyen soon after developed a strong cult of personality around himself. An imitator of Stalinist political and economic programs, Zebestyen was dubbed the “bald murderer,” Gusztavia experiences one of the harshest dictatorships in Europe. Many officials and intellectuals were subsequently purged. Zebestyen imposed totalitarian rule on Gusztavia — arresting, jailing and killing both real and imagined foes in various waves of Stalin-inspired political purges – as the country went into decline. Gusztavia is a one party state. The country's government styles itself as following the strict Stalinist line, further developed by Melik Zebestyen as the self-styled 'New Economic Mechanism'. Melik Zebestyen is absolute ruler of Gusztavia, using the office of General Secretary of the party. Relations are strongest with other officially socialist states, but since it's revolution the country was turned inwards and becoming increasingly isolationist, joining the neutral GPA. The country has since embarked on a policy of rapid industrialization, causing shortages of basic goods and even famine, as well as a ferocious campaign of repressing dissent. Repressive Laws Since consolidating power, Zebestyen quickly issued a series of decrees intended to secure the power of the communist system. All private newspapers and independent journalists, TV programs and stations and Radio broadcasts were banned and eliminated. Dissidents were rounded up and arrested. All ‘traitors’ who previously fled the nation were given an ultimatum by the government, leave the country again or be arrested. Cars were banned temporarily and bicycles were restricted to loyal citizens. Contact with all foreigners was made Illegal and punishable by imprisonment of 2 weeks and a fine of 500 Rubles. Foreign transmissions into the country were blocked by placing broadcast towers around the boarder that scramble outside frequencies. Radio was limited down to 2 hours per day and it was put under state control. Western items were collected by the State and destroyed. All foreign and western texts were banned and destroyed. All religion was banned. Travel outside of separate communities, townships or cities require permits, and if on the coast it became illegal to swim (in case people defected). A Child quota law was instated in which all woman must have at least 3 children by the time they are 40 or they will face punishment, as a result of this contraception was also banned, as was abortion. Economic Policy As a result of the revolution what little industry Gusztavia had was taken over by the state, and agriculture was collectivised. Zebestyen imposed harsh economic methods in order to create strong industry and to electrify the country. Political cronies of Zebestyen were installed in one-man factory command roles, and output quotas in the factories were quadrupled and a 14-hour day was enforced, causing strikes, which were harshly repressed. Factory managers were given authority over disciplinary methods to keep production up; armed guards kept the workers at their machines by force, and secret police were infiltrated into the workforce. Managers’ drained resources away from consumer products and into heavy industry, in order to fulfil the quotas of the economic plan, resulting in desperate shortages in food, consumer durables, and pharmaceuticals. The Gusztavian currency experienced marked depreciation immediately following the revolution, resulting in the highest historical rates of hyperinflation ever known. Disposable real incomes sank to two-thirds of their pre-revolution levels; whereas before the revolution, this figure had been 90 percent. As a result manufacturing output fell to one-third of pre-revolution levels. The government used coercion and brutality to collectivize agriculture, and it squeezed profits from the country's pig farms to finance rapid expansion of heavy industry, which attracted more than 90% of total industrial investment. At first Gusztavia concentrated on producing primarily the same assortment of goods it had produced before the war, notably the aluminum extraction industry. Despite its poor resource base and its favorable opportunities to specialize in other forms of production, Gusztavia developed new heavy industry in order to bolster further domestic growth and produce exports to pay for raw-material import. With the Gusztavia economy in steep decline, Zebestyen’s solution was the withdrawal from the world market, and the creation of import substitution industries. This resulted in the severe underdevelopment of Gusztavia, and the production of poor-quality goods. The attempt squeeze-out wheat production to generate hard currency was a disaster, and rife with corruption, and its populace barely survived on informal imports which the regime to this day tries to crush. Zebestyen’s regime also established wage controls and a two-tier price system made up of producer and consumer prices, which the government controlled separately. In the early 1950s, the authorities used these new controls to limit domestic demand and cut relative labor costs by tripling consumer prices and holding back wages. Popular dissatisfaction mounted as the economy suffered from material shortages, export difficulties, and mounting foreign debt. Category:Gusztavia